Bi-Annual Report December 2022: Amberfield College

BI-ANNUAL

#c lestc lege #amb field

C lege Reflecti

We are a school enriched by diverse people. As I reflect upon my tenure as executive head, I will start by saying we have been successful in being the school of choice in the community we serve.

In our 4th year, our growth rate has steadily increased. We have 1651 learners currently enrolled at the College. While we continue to focus on our academic programme, our vibrant culture and competitive sports departments contribute to developing the learners’ individual potential. As technology transforms education the use of Google workspace by our learners and teachers and the introduction of Lego robotics ensures that we update skills for modern work.

In academic news, our first grade 12 exams began on 2 November. Umalusi online site visit took place on 23 June followed by an unannounced visit on 26 September. On 2 December we received notice of our registration with Umalusi. We have completed step 1 (self-evaluation) of the IEB registration process and will continue to investigate this option further. Parent and teacher surveys were conducted and an information session for parents was held on 16 November2022

We continue to conduct parent, teacher and learner satisfaction surveys on a regular basis to ensure customer satisfaction.

2022 has been a very successful year for Amberfield College and we would like to thank all parents, learners and staff for your support.

FUTURE COLLEGE

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023

We are confident that we will reach another milestone in the form of our final Umalusi Accreditation. An outcome will be received at the end of February 2023 once the grade 12 results are finalised. As a young independent school we will strive to define our independence and align ourselves to the independent schools sector.

As a school community we will build on the newly established relationship with our Parents Representative Council. We will have another shot at our Golf day and other collaborative projects.

Infrastructure upgrades will continue. An upgrade to our sports field will be completed at the end of February. This R3 million project will see the field lifted by 20cm to improve the drainage and aesthetics of our sports facility. Our R5 million solar project will be enhanced with the addition of batteries. This exercise will ensure effective back- up and the sustainable use of a resource. An upgrade to the computer labs is also on the cards.

Stricter security and traffic control within the school must be implemented to ensure the safety of our learners. We look forward to the cooperation and support of our parents and the Gauteng traffic department who have come on board to assist in this regard.

We are looking forward to working with you in 2023.

Beauty-with-a-purpose: The Love Legacy Mr & Miss

Amb field

On the College’s Open Day our reigning Love Legacy, Mr & Miss title holders made their first public appearance by welcoming visiting members from the community to the College and to share greater insight of life as a learner at Amberfield College. Thereafter, the ambassadors made a public speech for Youth Day declaring the focus for their reign; to bring about positive change within the learners’ mindsets, especially after the effects of Corona. They sweetened this moment by handing out Youth Day candy to the College. They hosted a special civvies day in honour of Youth Day. Their reign comprised of boosting learner wellness by presenting motivational speeches at school and assemblies and were regular speakers at grade meetings motivating their peers and teachers alike, encouraging the importance of finding and following one’s purpose and allow for it to blossom. The powerful messages and appearances at assembly by the ambassadors allowed for a sense of gratiude among the learners and great glee for the fun civvies days initiated by the Beauty-with-aPurpose ambassadors.

Regular visits were paid to Jacob’s Well (a charity close to the hearts of the senior ambassadors). Here Mr & Miss shared Easter joy with the staff members and pupils by donating Easter parcels to them filled with goodies, food and toiletries. In the winter season, they returned to Jacob’s Well to bring about warmth with food and toiletry parcels. They also took to the streets with the Amo Charity drops and shared the initiative with the Top 18 Mr & Miss contestants of 2022. They ensured that 67 charity parcels in honor of Nelson Mandela Day were shared across the nation. For the AMO drop initiatives for the Love Legacy programme, the ambassadors look predecessors and shared parcels with them on a regular basis, to aid that the ambassadors of 2021 supported.

Our senior titleholders dedicated their reign to help their peers gain confidence through self-love and self-awareness with their weekly Mental Awareness tives before the month of September, which brought about the true essence of Spring at the College. The two of them shared printed motivational quotes cards and coined these days Mindful Mondays and Wellness Wednesdays. Spring Day brought about celebrations where the staff were treated with somet to welcome the new season. The Ambassadors also ensured that Her brought about great sweetness for the staff and learners. They arranged special treats for teachers and shared a video message encouraging South Africans everywhere to embrace the beauty of their cultural heritage. Along with this, the Junior and Mini winners ensured a showcase that celebrated the heritage of the college’s learners. This showcase, accompanied by the many different civvies days allowed for the learners of the College to explore the fun side of school – a much needed exercise after the devastation of the Corona virus

The ambassadors paid frequent visits to charities in the community, not only for the purpose of donating time and goods, but also to pay a special thanks to all the caregivers and staff of these charities to ensure that everyone feels included and appreciated for the good that they contribute to society. These charities included The CHOC Foundation, Doves Nest, SPCA, Jacob’s Well and Irene Homes. Our winners also spent time getting to know more about the charities, its operations and they simply had a ball with each moment spent at the animal shelters. Each holiday the six ambassadors would make time to donate to different animal shelters.

Throughout all their initiatives they continued with the Sinothando We are love - Charity starts at home. This initiative was created by Junior Miss Amberfield College of 2021- Sinothando Malefane; who is currently in the running to become Miss Pre-Teen Universe of 2022. By continuing with this charity initiative our ambassadors ensured that the security and ground staff of Amberfield College receive regular parcels as a thank you for all they do for Amberfield College, the staff, parents and learners.

To round off the year’s charity programme the 2022 titleholders spread year-end season joy by doing the signature Amo drops across the community of Centurion to the homeless. Also to end off the trilogy of the Mr & Miss Amberfield College Beauty-with-a-Purpose Programme; the ambassadors expressed their gratitude to all their predecessors for the impactful programme they have paved for the College.

PRESCHOOL

Learning through play is a term used in education and psychology to describe how a child can learn to make sense of the world around them. Through play, children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain the self-confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments.

Key ways that young children learn include playing, being with other people, being active, exploring and new experiences, talking to themselves, communication with others, meeting physical and mental challenges, being shown how to do new things, practicing and repeating skills and having fun.

According to proponents of the concept, play enables children to make sense of their world. Children possess a natural curiosity to explore and play acts as a medium to do so. In the book Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, five elements of children's play are listed:

•Play must be pleasurable and enjoyable.

•Play must have no extrinsic goals; there is no prescribed learning that must occur.

•Play is spontaneous and voluntary.

•Play involves active engagement on the part of the player.

•Play involves an element of make-believe.

Creativity

Role-play and pretend play involves creativity, such as making props to use or finding objects to be used as props. Play can also be creative when the player constructs building blocks, uses paint or uses different materials to build an object. Creativity is not about the end product, but the process of the play scenario.

Imagination

Imagination is used during play when the persons involved creates images in their minds about their feelings, thoughts and ideas. The person then uses these images in their play.

In order for an activity to be considered play, the experience must include a measure of inner control, ability to bend or invent reality, and a strong internally based motivation for playing. If parents and educators try to label experiences as play, but in reality have specific requirements for the activity, then it becomes work not play. For example, it is impossible to play with flash cards whose purpose is to have a child memorise something on each card. This is not playing and children quickly differentiate between pure play and work being disguised as play. Play is not wasted time, but rather time spent building new knowledge from previous experience

We want to encourage you to use the holiday time to really play with your children.

PRESCHOOL

C c t & Graduati

If you have ever witnessed pre-schoolers grooving to music, you cannot help but smile. They obviously love the feeling of moving to the tunes we play for them.

However, music and dance are much more than just fun activities for children. In fact, it is very beneficial for pre-schoolers to participate in these “performing arts”. Here is why:

1.Music and dance engages the brain

Children learn new things, like sounds, words and patterns through music. In addition, with dance, they can explore and control their body movements. These activities are great for development and stimulate connections in the growing brain.

2.It helps cultivate communication skills

Bringing together kids with songs, rhymes and actions let them discover how to interact and connect with others. They develop listening and social skills that will give them self-confidence and better prepare them for school.

3. Music and Dance allows kids to express themselves

Happy, nervous, tired. Engaging in creative activities let kids release their emotions and express their feelings. It is a fantastic opportunity for children who are not yet able to put their thoughts into words.

4. It helps foster physical skills

Young musicians and dancers learn skills like balance, control and coordination. Singing and movement is also good aerobic exercise linked to stress reduction, physical fitness and overall good health.

5. Music and dance contribute to creativity and imagination

With children spending more time in front of screens rather than physically playing, music and dance encourages them to be curious and imaginative. This creative outlet can also give them opportunities to learn about other cultures through the arts.

PRIMARY SCHOOL academics

As we approach the end of a very challenging second half of 2022, we want to congratulate all our learners who did exceptionally well. ‘’Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better ‘’– Pat Riley. Congratula tions to our top 10 learners

The year has been characterised by many highlights of the quality of our learners’ creative thinking and reasoning skills and has been a reason for great celebrations. Our Grade 1-7 learners showed their creativity in all areas of teaching and learning and we are so proud of them.

The highlight of the Foundation Phase was when the grade 3s received their pen licences. They were extremely nervous and excited at the same time. Well done to all the teachers who encouraged and motivated the learners.

As Natural Sciences and Technology teachers we encourage our learners to think outside the box and to be creative. The Grade 4 learners had such a blast learning about musical instruments and how they work Learners were taught about the different types of instruments and the sounds that they create.

The Grade 6 learners were given an opportunity to build an electrical circuit that was able to produce energy. We are extremely proud of our learners as most of them have excelled in this project.

The Grade 7 learners participated in a career dress up after spending weeks researching and doing introspection in order to identify what career field would best suit them.

PRIMARY SCHOOL Robotics Robotics

Cyber Avengers and Lego Academy are our 2 robotics teams who competed in the First Lego League Gauteng Regional Championships. Team Lego Academy finished in fourth place out of 24 teams. They were the best Primary School team and won the Engineering Excellence Trophy.

Team Cyber Avengers finished fourth out of the Primary School teams and ninth overall. They won the Rising All-Stars Trophy.

PRIMARY SCHOOL

fun days & cial events!

During the second half of the year, in keeping with our commitment to make the school experience as fun as possible for our learners, we had several activities that were both fun and educational.

Heritage Day Concert:

On Friday 23 September, Amberfield College was treated to a colourful array of costumes as learners and staff dressed in their cultural best to celebrate Heritage Day. Learners received sweet treats in the form of traditional pancakes. The highlight of the day was the Heritage Day concert organised by Mr Farmer. Learners were given the opportunity to showcase their talents and they put on a magnificent display of dance and music items. It was truly a memorable day that both learners and staff will treasure forever!

Grade 6 Pirate Day:

Ahoy mateys! Welcome to the good ship HMS AMBERFIELD for a week of swashbuckling, piratical fun!

The Grade 6s pillaged through a week of pirate-themed activities in English, headed by Cap’n Brönn and Cap’n Botes, with stories, poems, songs and a treasure hunt. And shiver me timbers! To really blow this week out of the water we had an official Pirate Day on Friday, 21 October, when all the grade 6s showed their true colours as pirates and showcased our amazing Grade 6 crew. ARRR!

Cosplay Civvies:

On 4 November we held a Cosplay Civvies for learners and staff Learners and staff went all out in a bid to impress and delight their peers.

PRIMARY SCHOOL CULTURE

ART

The Primary school Art club is a place where learners come to express their creativity, thoughts and feelings through art. It is a tranquil time in the learner’s day to escape from academic demands. This year, the grade 1-3 learners started with beautiful sketches, pastel art, quilling and canvas paintings. We have also touched on miniature construction art and tie dye designs. We have hosted the Amberfield College Primary school internal Culture festival and were flooded with hundreds of art applications. Professional artist; Manuella Kruger came out to judge our learner’s creative entries. Each learners’ unique talent was awarded with a certificate. We had over 75 applications in the foundation phase alone and hailed three overall winners from each grade. The overall winners of the Foundation Phase for the 2022 Art Festival are Oratile Malele in Grade 1, Aleandro Barbosa in Grade 2 and Namisa Madonsela in Grade 3.

In our intermediate phase, (grade 4-7) the annual Art Festival obtained over 140 art entries. We are extremely proud of all the participants, and especially, our overall winner Jasmine Nee-Whang in Grade 6. With the impeccable art produced by the learners, the College top 10 learners of the AC arts festival into the Op die Planke Arts Festival; an external art competition. We are proud to announce that three of our learners were placed first nationally for their respective art categories. Jasmine Nee-Whang in Grade 6 won Nationals for her painting, Nobuhle Masango in Grade 4 received first place for her Mixed Media artwork and Aliana Dias in Grade 4 won Nationals for her pencil s We are overjoyed and proud of all our young talented artists and their abilit compete with the finest in South African Art for learners.

PUBLIC SPEAKING FESTIVAL

The Public Speaking festival hosted by the Primary School comprised of young, talented and enthusiastic learners from Grade 3-7. The students' active involvement in the Public Speaking Festival boosted their confidence and enhanced their communication abilities. A well-known local artist and Judge Mr Jason Bekeur provided excellent feedback to all the learners after the festival. He sang the praises of our learners and awarded Sinothando Malefane as the overall winner of the 2022 PS Public Speaking Festival.

DRAMA FESTIVAL

The Drama festival provided the participants with a space for our young artists to display and enhance teamwork qualities and boost their knowledge within the field of poetry, monologues, dialogues, mini plays and prose. The Festival was a tool to promote intercultural dialogue and expression among learners of different cultural backgrounds. We had an excitingly intriguing and action-packed year that saw many develop the ability to use drama elements to portray various characters. The drama and public speaking sessions were so fruitful that even the reserved students managed to pop out of their protective cocoons to exhibit their talents with abundant beauty We received just over 100 entries for our Drama festival, which allowed the festival to be hosted in 2 separate venues packed with exceptional audience numbers and the entertainment was a complete delight. Theatre industry professionals; multi-award winning SA director Quintin Wills and actress Gcebile Dlamini took up the roles as adjudicators for the day Learners, parents and judges thoroughly enjoyed the festival and we are looking forward to our next drama festival in 2023 which promises to surpass the success of this year’s festival.

Special mention goes to Namisa Mandonsela who stole the limelight during the festival and achieved the highest results in poetry for her rendition of “Breaking leaves’ by Barbara Vance. Many of our learners managed to portray the characters with great conviction and were awarded accordingly. We simply cannot wait to see what their futures on the stage would deliver. Another highlight from the Drama Festival was Sinothando Malefane and Thingolenkosazane’s captivating and entertaining dialogue; which wowed the audience and judges alike with their spectacularly raw talent. These two young performers were anounced as the well-deserved overall winners for the Drama Festival.

The drama activities for our grade 1 and 2 learners were filled with fun, happiness and an array of different techniques to boost their abilities in acting, debating, public speakers and many other forms of performing. Learners partook in different drama exercises, body warm ups, vocal warm ups, rhythm exercises and vocal warm ups. Learners practiced their speeches and learnt new poems prepping them for the festivals. They displayed their individual poems, group poems and monologues spectacularly. All this done at grade 1-2 level. All learners who partook in the festivals were thrilled to receive their different certificates and we cannot be more proud of the bravery displayed at such a tender age!

STUDENT CHRISTIAN COUNCIL

The Student Christian Council grew in attendance this year. There were 10 learners from the Foundation Phase and 22 learners from the Intermediate Phase who attended sessions every week. During the sessions, the learners were taught how to pray, the Word, how to share testimonies, do devotions and keep a devotional journal. There was tremendous growth in all these areas this year. The SCC festival was a huge success. A number of our learners participated, presenting Bible Memory, Gospel Vocal, Gospel Dance and Preaching. The jugdes were Mr Paul James Naicker (local recording artist and gospel singer) and Mr Manosh Ramdeo (local Pastor and student of Theology). The parents and judges were very impressed with the organisation of the event and with the standard of the performances and were particularly taken by the current reigning Mr Amberfield Njabulo Simelane who won the overall winner title for the High School and he also went on to win beyond this for his sermon at the Perservaria Eisteddfod Competition. Busang Brandt delivered a number of items at the SCC Festival and received gold for all her items and she even snagged the title of the overall winner for the Primary School for the SCC Festival of 2022. The SCC festival boosted great pride in our Christian learners, it also boosted the interest of the other religious ollege, and we are proud to share that from next year on we will open up the festival to include all religious groups under the new festival name: The Religious Festival.

MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Music festival was open to all learners from Grade 1 up to Grade 7. Learners were very eager to participate in this prestigious event and entered in great numbers. Categories for this year’s festival included solo, duet and group singing performances as well as performing musical instrument items. All learners were awarded certificates on the day, boasting a generous amount of gold certifi-cates for our performers. Local musician and Studio owner, our former High School music teacher Mr Mpho Masina, provided all the learners with constructive feedback to assist them to improve on their talents. Our children put on an unforgettable show. The festival produced a number of overall winners for the different categories of which some went on to entertain parents and peers at the Primary School Award ceremonies of the Primary School.

MARIMBAS

Our Marimba club started in the second term for the grade 4-7 learners, with many of them very keen on trying out this intriguing instrument. Most of the learners had never played marimbas before, but were very fast learners. They have been consistent in their attendances and their progress is evident in this short time. Their first public performance occurred at the Awards ceremonies of the Primary School and they presented 2 songs as part of their repertoire, under the guidance of Mrs Ramabulana and Ms Human.

SINGING

Our grade 4-7 learners have shown great commitment to their singing practice during the past three terms. Their singing skills have improved in each lesson. They have been trained how to do warm-ups and they have also learned basic music theory such as notes, pitch and tone The learners thoroughly enjoyed the lessons, with most of the lessons running over the scheduled time. They even went on to share their beautiful voices at the Primary School Awards evenings.

DANCE FESTIVAL

Rounding off the year’s festivals, the dance festival produced a number of enthralling dance items; keeping the audiences on the edge of their seats. The viewers were spoiled with an array of dance styles including classical ballet, hip-hop, kwaito, amapiano, complete with traditional dance forms. These dance items lived on long after the Dance Festival and were included in the Open Day, Heritage Day Performance Showcase and the annual Awards ceremonies of the Primary School. The Hip-Hop dancers, under the direction of Mario Gomez also received high praise for their work, received medals from MGHHDA, and was judged by professional South African master dancer; Katlego Zulu.

This year the talents of our learners were further groomed and their skills were refined for public appearances, but moreover a love for performing and a respect for art have been instilled in more learners after a cultural hiatus of nearly 2 years due to COVID. The learners are at a level beyond their years concerning their skill sets and it has been the culture department’s greatest joy to boost the learners in this way, not for the sake of entertainment alone, but also for the growth and endless benefits the arts lends to its performer’s spirit.

As the curtain closes on 2022, it is the Culture Department’s hopes that the learners will keep the artistic flame burning and work hard to continue to produce high quality performances for the coming year The Primary School Culture Department has exciting plans for the creatives of 2023. These plans will allow for our culture learners to gain greater exposure and insight into the wonders of all things culture! The beauty our learners shared on stage with such immense grace is not only the product of their hard efforts with their cultural teachers and coaches, but it is the result of the foundation laid by our parents. It has been a huge privilege to work with such dynamic learners and a greater pleasure to further their skill set which were given wings by our parents. It has been a dream to work together as teacher, parent and learner to accomplish the standard of this year’s culture and we are in complete awe of the endless support from our parents. Well done to the culture of 2022 – we conquered and triumphed the damages of COVID and brought forth a culture department that may now set off into the community knowing the arts will continue to thrive and contribute to life all around us and this is the beauty of Amberfield College Culture –touching hearts along the way!

PRIMARY SCHOOL

sp t

The second half of the year was fun filled and actioned packed for the Primary School sports teams at Amberfield College.

Our U/11 and U/13 Soccer boys narrowly lost to Centurion Primary in the Tshwane Intra Soccer Semi Finals.

The U/13 Cricket boys had an amazing season that included an 87 run win over Irene Primary as well as a 10 Wicket win against Laerskool Saamspan. Zaakhir Khan and Zenande Nxumalo both reached the final round of the U/13 Northern Cricket trials, with Zaakhir being selected for the Northern Regional Team.

Our athletes did amazingly well at the PEPSAA Inter Primary, walking away with 14 Gold, 18 Silver and 11 Bronze medals. Kwenzo Madinane was awarded with TOP Performing Junior Boy at the inter schools meeting.

Our U/13 Girls Soccer team had an absolutely amazing season playing 9 matches, winning 8 of them and ending in 3rd place overall in the Tshwane Girls Soccer Cup. Násomdweeba, Kebaneilwe, Noliwe, Lwandle, Rose and Tshegofatso were all selected for the Northern Girls soccer team that played in the Bill Steward Inter Provincial tournament. Even more impressive is that Rose and Tshegofatso are U/11 and Nasomdweeba is U/10 and they made the Northern U/13 team.

Well done to all our teams, you boys and girls have made us at Amberfield very proud! We cannot wait to see what 2023 will bring!

HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMICS

The second half of 2022 was memorable for various reasons. Our first group of grade 12 learners sat for the Prelim Examinations. This was a very good learning curve for them to realise what lies ahead in the final examinations. We are positive that our group of grade 12 learners will achieve good results at the end of the year. Thank you to all the teachers who offered their Saturdays and many afternoons for extra lessons and intervention classes. I am sure it will pay off.

Our teaching staff remained very stable in the second half of the year Mr Mulidzi and Mr Ngobeni were appointed as replacements for Ms Menge who went on maternity leave. Mr Mashazi started in the place of Ms Fick who left at the end of term two. Ms de Kock joined our English department. As things stand now we will be saying farewell to Mr Riaz Ismail, who is relocating to Cape Town. His colleagues and the learners will most definitely miss him.

It was a busy start to term 3 with the Grade 9 Subject Choice Information evening where the parents and learners received more information about subjects on offer at Amberfield College and general information, so that everyone can make an informative decision.

Our learners participated in the National Geography Olympiad and we are very proud to announce that 4 of our learners achieved FANTASTIC results:

Top 5% in South Africa Mfundiso Mjeikeliso Jeremiah Govender

Top 10% in South Africa Ditshegofatso Kelaotswe

Top 15% in South Africa Leona Tshilongamulenzhe

CONGRATULATIONS!! We are so proud of you and Mr Mohlala.

Amberfield College hosted their first ever Gr 9 Entrepreneurs Day. The did not just sell their products, but they also had to hand in proper plans and had to show profit margins at the end of the day. This taught students to be creative and entrepreneurial.

Our new leaders for 2023 were announced. They went on a leadership development camp and are now very enthusiastic about 2023.

Our Commerce department participated in an Olympiad and the learners performed exceptionally well in Accounting, Economics and Business Studies. The grade 8 and 9 learners went to Gold Reef City and enjoyed a day of fun and learning. They went on the mine trip, which was a bit challenging for learners, yet enjoyable.

We appointed our very own educational Psychologist, Ms R van Aswegen. This proved to be a great success as she assists us with counselling, academic assessments and workshops for learners and teachers – to mention but a few.

Our final events for 2022 were the Prestige Awards Evening and the Awards Day after the examinations. We paid tribute to all the learners’ achievements in all the activities offered at Amberfield College.

AND NOW ..HOLIDAY 2023 with new challenges and opportunities.

High Sch l

ITC

Computer Classes have been taking place since the start of the year The following content was covered in Grade 8:

Practical

•Advanced Microsoft Excel functions and basic operations

•PowerPoint Presentation and formatting

We did informal assessments which was grade 10 term 2 SBA practicals. The results achieved were pleasing. We can now encourage these learners to choose Computer Application Technology or IT as a subject in Grade 10.

Introduction of ICT is advantageous in real life Because of the skills they learn in ICT general computer related usage. The world has moved into 4IR and the knowledge of ICT is growing enormously in education. Learners are expected to complete projects and assignments in a presentable document This means every learner needs to be equipped with these ICT basic skills.

Furthermore, we also suggest that it will be in the best interest of the learners to be introduced to any programming language so that they may improve their logic and thinking abilities (programming languages such as VB and Delphi), the use of Hyper Text Mark-up Language at the lower Grades will help them to excel in CAT in Grade 10.

ELC/ RCL HIGH SCHOOL

The 2022 year started with Amberfield College having its first Gr 12 group ever. Our ELC is setting the tone for the year ahead. The RCL and ELC for 2023 were elected at the start of August 2022. We are looking forward to a fantastic 2023 with our newly elected RCL and ELC.

Some of the changes that we have implemented, include, an increase in the numbers of our ELC in 2023. We will have 30 ELC members comprising of 21 girls and 9 boys. The Heads of the portfolios will also increase from four to eight with one girl and one boy per portfolio. The RCL will also remain two per class, one girl and one boy.

Some of the activities that we did on our Leadership Camp in collaboration with School of Leadership, included; team building, leadership development, motivational talks, policy forming and of course time for some fun. All the learners thoroughly enjoyed the camp and we had a follow up workshop in November to reinforce all the values and skills acquired on the camp.

The ELC will attend the Gr 8 camp in 2023 to be mentors to our new Gr 8s entering Amberfield College. We will do some activities with the learners that will assist the ELC in getting to know the Gr 8’s and to mentor them throughout their first year of High School.

The 2023 ELC is looking forward to creating a unique culture with lots of tradition at Amberfield College.

High Sch l FUN DAYS

For "Twinning day" on 29 July, the students and teachers all paired up and dressed the same, from the Teletubbies to Maleficent.

For "Be a stud and bring a spud" on the 19th of August, the students’ competitive side came out as it was a competition between all register classes to see who could bring the most “spuds”. This was done to raise funds for the sports department. The Grade 11 B was the winning class and obtained an "off day from school" by watching movies and having pizzas.

Spring day on 2 September was celebrated with civvies and with the very first Entrepreneurs Day held by our Grade 9s.

On "Funky Socks Day" on 16 September, the students could wear their funkiest socks with their school uniform. They absolutely loved it and could not wait to show everyone their socks.

Heritage day was celebrated on 23 September and students showcased and celebrated their culture by dressing in their different attires. The atmosphere on campus was electrifying with singing and dancing all day. Gold Reef City Excursion Gr8 & Gr9: The students went on excursions with the commerce department to learn about all the business sectors and also to have some fun on the rides.

On Cosplay Dress up on 4 November, students dressed up as their favourite film/ TV shows characters.

HIGH SCHOOL culture

The High School culture is flourishing more every day. Our Drama club was very busy preparing for the festivals and Eisteddfods. Our photography club was involved in taking photographs of all events from sports to culture and academics. Our Debating club debated about education, the economy, and much more. Our public speaking club focussed more on delivering improvised speeches. In the first week of Term 3, we had a Marimba workshop held by The Marimba Workshop. The learners were taught valuable lessons which lead to them delivering amazing performances on our Open days. In Term 3 we also had our annual Culture Festival running throughout the month of August. Across all festivals which included: Drama & Play Festival, Public Speaking and Debate Festival, Dance Festival, Music Festival, Photography and Art Festival we had over 80 entries which only included our school. We are excited to expand and grow these festivals in 2023. We are also very proud to announce that we now have a full choir of 15 members.

We didn’t just achieve great things within our school, but externally as well. In Term 4 we entered our students into the OP DIE PLANKE DRAMA FESTIVAL where our students went through to the National Finals. Within the Drama section, 4 out of 5 National Finalists ended in the top 3. The Art section also produced wonderful work. We had 6 students who were the national winners of their category and we had 3 students who won the Overall National Winner of their Category for Gr 8 & Gr 9 together. We also entered 20 Items into the PERSERVARIA EISTEDDFOD, which is a national eisteddfod. We did not achieve any results below the symbol of an A: 84% and our highest result was an A+++: 95%. We also had 5 Category and Item winners.

HIGH SCHOOL sp t

In the last six months of the academic year, Amberfield College has produced several pleasing results in various sporting codes.

Amberfield High School has also broken new ground by introducing Hockey as a sporting code for the female learners. We have developed our educators by sending them on training courses and fostered a love for the game within our young women. We look forward to building upon this foundation from the start of the New Year.

In Cricket, Alex Man Yan, a Grade 10 learner, was selected to represent the Cricket team. He has since attended the World Cup squad trials in Cape Town. U/15 and first teams won their respective Centurion Soccer Leagues. Softball teams achieved the same in their league Yetu Awayami also brought home the for 'Best Average for a Batter' in the league. She was awarded with a gold certificate.

The rugby did extremely well with Ofentse Rapetswane and Nhloni Mzimba attending trials for the Gauteng Provincial Team. Ofentse has since made the team. Our two Rugby 7’s coaches were selected as the U/15s Blue Bulls Development coaches. Both coaches have been instrumental in the selection of the Gauteng Provincial Team.

Matric Dance

MATRIC DANCE 2022

On 21 October 2022, we had our very first Matric Dance. It was a spectacular evening held at Royal Elephant. Our students blew us away with their beautiful outfits. We are so proud of our first class of 2022, as they had to face challenges like no other Gr 12 group. The evening was enjoyed by the students and teachers who attended the event

Head Girl Linda said: "Good evening esteemed guests, today is a big deal. Not only are we gathered here in celebration of our schooling career but the school is also celebrating its first group of matriculants. As the first group, we served as the benchmark and guinea pigs for most of our High School careers. However, together we made small steps, big steps, and missed steps and are able to celebrate our sacrifices and accomplishments.

It would be crazy to think that we got to this stage by ourselves. Therefore, I would like to thank our educators for their dedication and support, to the committee that planned the event, we give thanks to you for making this day a day we will all remember. To the SMT of the school, we’d like to give thanks because if it wasn’t for your vision, the school wouldn’t exist. Now on to the funders our loved ones and our guardians for giving us the opportunity to live our dreams and for the investment they made in us, Matric Dance expenses are no joke. "

Head Boy Tadi said: "Looking back at it all, it’s really crazy how far we’ve come in such a short period of time, throughout the years I’ve watched all of you grow and become wonderful people, today a day in which we will celebrate our growth as well as acknowledge the end of our high school careers. I wish you all the best in this current moment and the future to come. And it’s been a pleasure serving all of you as your Head Boy."

These are just snippets of the speeches from our Head Boy and Head girl of 2022.

AMBERFIELD COLLEGE

aft care

The 2023 academic year has brought about many positive changes to the Amber field College Aftercare Centre. As we wrap up the year, we can look proudly back on some major achievements and milestones that we attained.

Growth

The Amberfield College Aftercare Centre is an integral support system for both the College’s learners and parents alike. When the lockdown restrictions were lifted earlier this year, we quickly had to adapt by putting measures in place ensuring that we could accommodate the parents who were now expected back at the office. We started 2022 with 43 learners with two classrooms. However, very soon this number grew exponentially to over 80 learners.

As the year closes, we now have almost 120 learners in total, requiring a total of five aftercare assistants to supervise them.

Staff Changes

In the third and fourth quarters of 2022, we welcomed three new staff members. Gloria Kgalegi is in charge of the combined Grade 1 & 2 class, whilst Kgomotso Motlemekoane and Malefo Masekoameng are responsible for the Grade 1 and the Grade 5-9 classes respectively.

At the end of October, we bid farewell to Mrs Natalie Moemise, who has moved on to another exciting challenge. She has been replaced by Ms Violet Seabi who will be managing the Aftercare Centre until the end of the year. Below are photos of all the members of the Aftercare Team.

Teacher Kgomotso Teacher GloriaTeacher Violet Teacher Lydia Teacher Malefo

Playground and Seating Areas

Our playground is now fully developed, with covered shading installed on top and artificial grass covering the ground, ensuring that our learners can play to their heart’s content protected fully from the harmful rays of the sun, whilst still staying clean. The facial expressions and grateful feedback from the parents when they first saw the newly covered playground when school opened at the start of Term 3, were priceless.

With the learner numbers having increased, we have also identified a need to increase the number of benches in the seating area. By the end of the year, we will have added extra benches to ensure that all the learners can be seated during meal times.

Holiday Care

Once again, our team pulled off an amazing holiday care programme, allowing our parents to continue going to work, knowing that their children were cared for during the day in a safe, fun environment. The fact that the parents of existing aftercare learners do not have to pay extra for holiday care is a wonderful benefit that they really appreciate. The picture a testament of how much the kids enjoyed them-selves during the recent September holiday care period.

Open Day

On 29 October, the Aftercare Centre participated in the last Open Day of 2022. The team proudly displayed our beautiful stand, where we had fun engaging prospective parents

Aftercare Registrations 2023

We have already started encouraging parents to apply to register their children for aftercare in 2023. Space is limited, and with the available resources, we can only enrol a maximum of 140 children next year. From the applications that we have received so far, it seems that over 90% of the parents intend to keep their children at the aftercare next year.

The 2022 academic year has been an extraordinary year for the aftercare centre, and we could not have achieved all that we have without the support of our executive principal Mr Ponnen and the SMT, our wonderful parents and the Management Committee. I would also like to express a personal thanks to my colleagues in the Aftercare Team who have worked really hard to make this place a safe yet fun-filled place to be for our learners.

With the final exams around the corner, we wish them all the best and look forward to welcoming them back in 2023.

MAINTENANCE review

Our Operations and Maintenance Team had a very busy 2022 to make sure that our school and facilities are well maintained and upgraded where needed. Below is a short summary of some of the projects that were completed during 2022.

-Upgrade of the pre-primary school

-New school furniture bought to the value of +- R150 000 Upgrading Amphitheatre lights

-48 new Access Points to improve Wifi throughout the school New Computer Applications Technology (CAT) lab with 30 desktops

-New cabinets in CAT Class

-Extra shading for the learners (Combi courts, Primary School play area, Waiting Area)

-18 new Picnic benches for our school grounds and play areas

-New swimming pool net for the safety of our learners

-Sanded and treated all wooden beams throughout the school

-New solar system with 208 solar panels and inverters to the value of R1,5M

-Drainage and upgrade of Sport fields to the value of R3M -Rubberising of Primary School play area.

Academic QUALITY ASSURANCE

The Academic Quality Assurance Team was established in January this year to focus on academic quality assurance in all our schools. The main focus of the team is to ensure excellence in the preparation and delivery of lessons in all grades and subjects. This was accomplished by the following projects implemented during the year:

•Subject specialists, with proven track records and results, were identified and appointed to mentor, guide and support subject teachers in specific subjects and grades.

•Common tests and exams, set by these subject specialists, were administered in terms 1 and 2 in specific subjects and grades. This allowed the Academic Quality Assurance Team to identify areas that needed intervention and support in terms of lesson preparation and lesson delivery.

•Systemic tests were administered in Grades 1 to 9 in October in English Home Language, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology. The higher order cognitive levels of the learners were assessed in these subjects, as well as their ability to “think outside the box.” The results of these tests will be used to identify educators that are in need of support and development in order to teach the learners to apply themselves using the higher order cognitive levels. Workshops and training sessions will be held to support our staff.

•Google Workspace was implemented as an enrichment platform for learners. Training and development was offered to the educators throughout the year, to ensure that this platform is utilised to enrich and to reinforce what was taught in the classroom.

•Intervention and support strategies were offered to the schools in subjects that were not performing at an acceptable standard. Some of these strategies included the introduction of weekend boot camps, afternoon classes, Saturday classes and school holiday classes.

In 2023 our team will be extended so that the academic standards in our schools can reach greater heights and our learners can excel in their academic performance.